What photographer am I? - Mindmap
Some favourite photos so far...
The eyes, The ears - Rinko Kawauchi
The book the eyes, the ears by Rinko Kawauchi is a book I was recommended too .The book is about life in general Kawauchi took photos of her everyday life things that interested them. Things such as nature , people , outdoors , indoors , insects things that fascinated Kawauchi. What interests me about this book is the way Kawauchi takes photos and how although the photos in general are simple and could mean a variety of different things the poems on some of the double pages give you a different view / perspective of the whole photo a peaceful view. What also struck out to me is how the poems are also written for instance in one of the photos above with the swing the poem writing is going the direction of the swing and those little things are the ones that just makes this book more different and have a greater meaning than other photo books I have seen.The book also radiates positive energy like it gives off spiritual vibes also how it’s fine to be alone and you should be comfortable with your surrounding this might not be the meaning Rinko Kawauchi was trying to display however the way the poems are written and how the photos are taken indicate that too me
After looking at the whole book multiple times and reading the poems after a while you can kind of tell what the book is going to be about by just looking at the cover . The cover is a plain photo of someone’s eye and the title is on the top right hand corner in a small font nothing really special just like the photos kawauchi takes however you can also interpret the photos and the cover in a different way for instance the photos could mean something to kawauchi something we can’t pick out.
There are many reasons why these collection of photographs stand out one reason is the way the photos are of something specific and her everyday life yet you can tell the photos reflect a wider meaning or truth and the way she takes the photos the lighting give these small moments in her life a great weight and significance.Which really interest me because the photos look more natural and really reflect the photographers intentions.The photos represent something fragile and artistic. Looking at the collection of photos just makes the viewers want to go outside and experience the world ; explore new things .What also inspires me about Rinko Kawauchi work is how her photographs attain their specific quality through her choice of perspective aswell as her use of natural light and photographic style which is usually bright and vibrant colours that really capture every single moment.
Kawauchi page layouts and placement of the images is also unique and different some pages are singular photos with a poem besides it whereas some are double pages like everything else about Kawauchi book the layout is also effortless and transparent having said that it just shows of Kawauchi natural ability and how she doesn’t see taking photographs as a job or something she has too put a lot of effort into as she can just take photos of things that strike her and she can just make it into a collection and it will still be eye catching because her style and aesthetic is already distinctive. One thing I realised about kawauchi is that she doesn’t have a specific theme or concept she tends to capture things that look appealing to her she chooses to explore with her image creation she also does is spontaneously observing and photographing things that surround her . Kawauchi focuses on things that attract her and have her aesthetic .One thing that I feel like I relate too with Kawauchi is life, religion and spiritual things Kawauchi art is rooted in Shinto the ethnic religon of the people of japan they believe that all things on earth have a spirit and the cycle of life which is something I believe in . Kawauchi also composes haiku poems , this is a style of poetry that is very popular in japanese poetry haiku traditionally follows a very specific structure. One thing Kawauchi does when writing her Haiku poems is distinguish between present and future tense also she describes a particular moment in time and is also connected with nature and seasons .
My response to Rinko Kawauchi
After a few days of researching and going through Rinko Kawuchi book I decided to respond and take my own set of photos and these were the outcome One thing I mainly focused on while taking the photographs was taking photos of things I really like and would normally take pictures of if I was on holiday or I wasn’t tasked to do which is exactly what Rink Kawauchi does as their photos looks natural. I also made sure I took the photos on a sunny day where there is a lot of light in a place where the sun would reflect of certain objects and overall would look peaceful because that is exactly what Kawauchi does as their pictures consist of light imagery that radiate positively and spirituality and one way I felt that i could reciprocate that is taking pictures in a park or taking pictures of the beautiful trees and flowers and nature usually is known for that.
Andrea simonato - Research
In class we was instructed to research some talented photographers andrea simonato being one of them one thing that struck my eye about simonatos photography style is the way they have a specific style on taking photographs of normal irrelevant objects however they somewhow make it work. Simonato took these photographs during covid 19 times when most people were locked in at home and the only place you could go is a walk to your nearest park which is exactly what they did making the most of what they have which also shows how in photography you do not need to make it a big deal and all you need to do is go to your local park area and photograph things that catch your eye. Simonato also states that they usually don’t ever have particular place they want to photograph and they usually walk around while having no clue on what they are going to photograph what also draws me to the fact is the way most their photographs is taken in black and white adding to their mysterious and unique photographic style which leaves a lot of people curious. Most of simonato work is taken in a specific wood near his home town therefore this could be the reason why he is taking photographs on specific things trying to take in all the memories he has of his local park.
My response to Andrea Simonato
As you can see after studying and researching the photographer Andrea Simonato I went out of my way to try take photos and respond to some of his photos I did this by walking to my nearest park or nearest area I knew would have a lot of trees and bushes . One thing I had in mind before going to take photographs was that I wanted to take photographs on things that anyone would usually see and mainly outdoor places this is because Simonato took his photos outdoors in his hometown in a time where most people weren’t actually allowed out so when going on my walk I made sure I wanted to take photographs of trees and buses which any person would usually see as you can see that was successful however in simonato pictures the background is usually clear and the object is the main focus however in my pictures there is a lot going on in most of my photos which is something I would 100% try to avoid if I were to do this task again as although in some photos the main object and focus is clear in some it isn’t which I wasn’t really too happy about when I came home and compared my photos to simonato however overall I really enjoyed taking the pictures but if I were to do it again I would change the way I take the pictures and how I take it .
What is a dérive ?
During our photography lessons we have been studying about derive this is when you have no location or checkpoint and just aimlessly take photographs from one point to another with anything you like after doing some research on what a derive is I stumbled across a meaning online which suggests to ‘dérive’ is a mode of experimental behaviour linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances."It is an unplanned journey through a landscape, usually urban, in which participants drop their everyday relations and "let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there". Though solo dérives are possible.
A Kidbrooke dérive
After studying and researching what a derive is Today during class we went on a kidbrook derive were we instinctively walked around a rainy and muddy kidbrook we started of at Tallis and then made our way back at Tallis after an hour.
As you can see it was a very successful photographs as the hour long Kidbrooke dérive was really enjoyable and I got to take photographs and go to places in Kidbrooke where I haven’t ever been before without a meaning behind it just to take photographs of things and landscapes I really like what really fascinated me with these photos is the rainy full aesthetic of it however the bright green grass and leaves that I took bought the pictures to life .One thing I would do differently next is taking pictures of specific objects or things that not everyone would take photographs of and notice instead of the obvious however I am really proud of my work and the photographs I took and would love to do a Kidbrook derive part 2 in the future.
Teju Cole
Personal Dérive
I finally got to do my own derive after enjoying the kidbrook derive I did with my class . I decided to start at my house and then talk a hour walk around my neighbourhood these 14 photographs were the ones the caught my eye and I really liked so I wanted to put them on my website.
Making day-photographs
A03
Making Day- Writing
During making day we was instructed to take 36 photographs of our own choices during the school day by going anywhere we wanted to go by walking there or walking around after getting to your destination . However for me I decided to do something different my first plan was instead of taking photographs I would be writing it down instead however although I still carried on with that idea I still decided to take photographs a reason why I didn’t want to take photographs in the first place was because I am a religious person and have frequently expressed that through taking photographs or just talking about it and my religion is something I am very proud of so in Islam their is a month called ramadan which muslims fast and don’t eat from sunrise to sunset in order to seek empathy with less fortunate people who aren’t able to eat but also show gratitude towards our god for everything we have although ramadan isn’t all about fasting and there is other aspects like praying and giving to charity fasting is still something big so I put that concept into photograph and realised that like eating taking pictures is a daily task that people do without even thinking twice about it and we are lucky enough to have amazing technology and cameras now where we are able to take photographs wherever to keep as memory or even when we just like the look of something we tend to take a photograph of it so I decided that I would sort of fast from taking photographs in order to know how lucky and blessed we are to have cameras and we shouldn’t take it for granted nevertheless as you can see I failed in that task as I still took photographs. In conclusion although I wasn’t able to stick to what I really wanted to do it still showed me a different perspective of photography and taking pictures in general where we able to capture a single moment by just a tap
and we should be so grateful as photography is used by everyone in this world even if they aren’t actual photographers however no one realises the need for cameras and how we are lucky because without them we wouldn’t be able to function as a society all together.
WWW: For making day I walked from
kidbrook to Greenwich and decided to take photographs on the way their and once I got their what I really enjoyed was how some of the photos came out and how it really matched with the theme I was going for .Although next time I wish to take more photos indoors or somewhere not in the park because I mainly took pictures in the park so they look sort of repetitive however it was an overall fun day as I got to realise and increase my knowledge on many things and I would love to do it again
and we should be so grateful as photography is used by everyone in this world even if they aren’t actual photographers however no one realises the need for cameras and how we are lucky because without them we wouldn’t be able to function as a society all together.
WWW: For making day I walked from
kidbrook to Greenwich and decided to take photographs on the way their and once I got their what I really enjoyed was how some of the photos came out and how it really matched with the theme I was going for .Although next time I wish to take more photos indoors or somewhere not in the park because I mainly took pictures in the park so they look sort of repetitive however it was an overall fun day as I got to realise and increase my knowledge on many things and I would love to do it again
Erica Deeman
After looking at the different photographers I could research One photographer that interested me was eric deeman because of her visual artist. One thing that attracted me to her was the variety of black people and the representation of black culture which obviously stood out to me as someone who is black herself and sees the lack of black photographers in the industry She
is a women which also is rare to see as a photographer.Deemans work is interdisciplinary in a nature she creates in both physical and virtual spaces.
is a women which also is rare to see as a photographer.Deemans work is interdisciplinary in a nature she creates in both physical and virtual spaces.
Laura El Tantawy
For my personal project I will be researching the photographer Laura el Tantawy for inspiration. Laura is an British/Egyptian photographer who has an wide range of photos that was taken back home in her home town.One reason I chose her was that when she take photographs they always come out natural to her she often actually uses her phone camera with her as its easier and she takes photographs on things that just catch her eye in the moment.
Experimenting with film.
During todays lesson we got to experiment with the twin lens reflex camera that peter had .This film camera is an old camera which was popular prior to world war 2.The camera is divided into two entirely separate halves and it also uses two lenses of identical focal length.One aspect that I really liked about this camera was the design of the camera and how old fashion it was. It was also really easy to use and I was able to quickly pick up how to use the camera straight away all you had to do was press the shutter and look into the camera lens and you would hear a quick sound which would indicate that the picture has been taken.There was only 12 frames in the roll so we only as an minimum amount of photos taken and there was also a black and white negative in the roll so before the photos were taken it was white and then after it was black after the 12 pictures were taken we had to develop the films so we headed to the dark room we used 3 different mixtures because it was only back and white the first thing we used was the developer and that was for 7 minutes then we used the stop mixture in order to stop the images from developing anymore and that was only used for 30 seconds then we used the fix mixture in order to create the photographs and that was for only 3-4 minutes then the roll of photos came out however we had to let it dry for a bit in order to see the photographs more clearly. Overall I really enjoyed this experiment as I have never used film before so it was a fun way to experiment and increase my knowledge on how to use it just incase in the future I would love to take photographs on a similar type of camera.
Hoda Afshar.
After looking for visual artists I came across a photographer Hoda Afshar she is an Iranian photographer who was born in Iran however now lives in Australia. One reason why I picked Hoda Afshar is that she is traditional image making. She focuses on issues of representation. She has a brand new series called 'Speak the wind'. One of the reasons why Afshar decided to become an photographer was because she grew up at a time where her generation had two identities so she wanted to capture the things that was hidden. Her series Speak the wind took 5 years in the making it was made on the island in the strait of hormuz, it is about how in Iran there is an common conception that winds can posses a person, bringing an illness and disease. One thing I like about Hoda Afshar 'speak the wind' is her subtle and perspective images of the extraordinary landscapes, the people and their rituals, Afshar's beautiful and complex book attempts to picture the wind and its psychic entanglements to form a visible record of the invisible.
Afsh
Afsh
Extra research.
On Saturday 13th may my good friend Dominica reverted to Islam. I decided to take some photos of the day I mainly took photos of people together and completely forgot to take photos of the scenery.These where the only ones I got to take however on top of that I decided to interview my friend and ask her some questions I did get consent from her before I wrote this down for the most part I asked her general questions not any personal questions because I didn’t t want her to feel uncomfortable. She then told me a little bit about her experience as a revert and what was the reason she wanted to become muslim and funny enough she actually got the thought and decided she wanted to become a muslim a year prior to this day when she took her 'shahada' . An 'shahada' is basically an phrase that is said in arabic and once you say these words with an imaam there you have officially becomes muslim for my friend this was actually a special day for her because she had many bumps along the road on the reasons why she couldn’t take her shahada earlier on. Her family was actually present on this day which was so wholesome to see as they have been very supportive of her throughout her journey a lot of our friends was also there . I also asked her questions on how she felt after taking her shahada,